The Ever Shifting Sands
by KittyPoke
Summary: Sunagakure goes silent and closes their gates, nobody goes in or out, Tsunade is worried about their alliance and sends Sakura to investigate. She finds out that Gaara, Kazekage of the sand is gravely sick and she stays to help him get better and slowly starts to grow closer to him in the process. Crappy Summary I know, sorry! GaaraxSakura pairing with lemons later on.
1. Chapter 1

**~The Ever Shifting Sands~**

Heyo guys,this is my very first story/fanfic ever written so please be gentle haha, I really love reading Naruto fanfics...lets be honest I spend mostly all day reading on this site. I totally love reading GaaraxSakura and KakashixSakura I feel like those are just perfect imo, anywho I just thought id try my hand at writing a fanfic because I love reading them, might as well try writing them also and it also keeps me occupied while I wait for new chapter updates. And I really wanted to try writing a GaraaxSakura for my first story. So bear with me please as I try not to make the characters seem ooc. Reviews are always wanted and appreciated no matter good or bad. I dont really know if this chapter was too short or not but im hoping to make this story pretty long (Pretty long to me is like 60k to 100k words) and since this is my first fic lets hope I can actually pull this off. Sorry in advance for any misspellings that I have ( I stay up late so I write these at like 4am and I might mistype something) Anyways enough of me blabbing away lol I really hope you enjoy and review, im always looking for ideas to make this story more interesting and helpful tips to further myself as a writer.

**_Chapter 1_**

The suns rays slowly peaked through the tiny window above Sakura's bed, she softly grunted as she knew it was well past time to wake up. She had a hangover from drinking too much last night with her shishou and she swore grumpily that she wouldn't be persuaded to stay and have a drink with the slug princess anytime in the near future. Sighing she sat up and rubbed her sleep deprived eyes, an acute pain going through her head reminding her not to make any sudden movements. She then put her hand to her temple and let her soothing pale green chakra erase the pounding evidence of her endeavors last night. She then stood up and made her bed quickly, hating anything in her small studio apartment being out of order, after making her bed she grabbed her usual medic uniform consisting of a deep red blouse, pale pink skirt with black mid thigh shorts and her well worn black long sandals and put them on her dresser which was at the foot of her bed, she then grabbed a towel from under her bathroom sink and quickly stripped off her pajamas and jumped in the shower not even bothering to use her vanilla body wash that Ino gave her, saying that she needed something extra if she ever hoped of not being forever eighteen and single. After showering and getting dressed Sakura made her way to the tiny kitchen that was merged with her living room and made a pot of coffee making sure to put extra cream and sugar in her coffee, she hated bitter things and had a giant sweet tooth especially with candy. After draining about half of the contents of the coffee pot she felt awake enough to leave her house making sure she had her medic pouch and her forehead protector in place before leaving. As she made her way to the hospital where she spent almost all her time she wondered how Naruto was, he left on another mission to try to bring Sasuke back home two weeks ago with Sai, Kakashi and Yamato. Of course she wanted to go with them, that was her team, her family and her motherly tendencies towards them made her worry constantly about them even though she knew that they were more than capable of being able to take care of themselves. Just thinking about Sasuke made her mood turn sour, her feelings for him she realized was nothing more then looks and shallow emotions that didn't last after the heartbreak that he put her and Naruto through. She had begged Naruto to stop chasing after Sasuke, that she didn't want to see him suffer anymore and that she had come to terms with him leaving but he just shook his head and said that no matter what, he was going to save Sasuke from his darkness. Of course there was nothing she could do when he made his mind up so she just stood by his side and supported him hoping that he'd one day he'd think about his own happiness for a change. She was pulled from her thoughts when someone tapped on her shoulder, she looked over and saw her friend Miki who worked as a nurse at the same Hospital as her, "I've been trying to get your attention for the last five minute waving my hand in front of your face while you just look lost in thought in the middle of the road" Miki huffs while crossing her arms and looking at Sakura, slightly pouting. "I'm sorry Miki, I was just thinking about my boys and my mind kinda wondered" she laughs slightly and Miki sighs and then smiles, "Yeah, I know how you get, like a mother Hen fretting over her chicks" after a short pause she makes a thoughtful face and then says "or more like a mama bear who will make anyone who touches her cubs pay dearly, haha so when is Naruto and the rest of them supposed to be coming back?" Miki asks, starting to walk towards the hospital. After a short pause Sakura starts to walk with Miki, matching steps with her and says "Its been two weeks so he should be back in a week and a half maybe two if they take any detours which knowing Naruto and his obsession with ramen he'll probably beg Kakashi to make a stop at Yugakure in the Land of Hot water so he can try their supposedly world famous ramen that he was telling me about before he left." After walking a couple more minutes they reach the steps of the hospital and Miki whirls around handing Sakura a scroll with the hokage seal keeping it closed "I was supposed to give this to you first thing when I saw you, Lady Tsunade wants to see you immediately." Sakura groans "Why didn't you give me this sooner, she's probably all cranky that im not their right now" Miki has a smug look on her face and shrugs, "I didn't want to walk here alone, that's all" After giving her an evil look Sakura runs and jumps to the nearest building heading towards the Hokage's office hearing Miki's laughter in the distance. After sprinting for about three minutes she reaches the steps of the tower and rushes in reaching the door to the Hokage's office in record time. Shizune, Tsunade's other apprentice looks at her sympathetically and waves her in "She's been expecting you, and shes not in the best mood right now and she has a headache so don't make too much noise" Sakura nods with a grim face and slowly opens the door and tiptoes in making as little noise as possible. Tsunade looks up with her face bunched up in an agitated grimace and slams her fist into her desk, making a sizable crack in the desk and sending papers flying everywhere "SAKURA, YOU'RE LATE!" Tsunade then groans at making her own headache worse, and Sakura looks down at the floor guiltily "Sorry Tsunade Shishou, Miki didn't give me that scroll till no more then five minutes ago" she the walks up to her sensei and heals her headache wondering why she didn't do it herself. Tsunade sighs softly, grateful her headache was gone and then suddenly gets a very serious face and looks at Sakura saying with a grave tone "Never mind that, I need you to pack your bags and be ready to leave by nightfall, you're heading to Sunagakure."


	2. Chapter 2

~**The Ever Shifting Sands~****  
**

Hey guys, I know im going kinda slow with the story but I promise the next chapter will be more exciting and actually have some plot progress haha but yeah I looked at my first chapter after publishing it and man you think you type alot and then you actually look at it and its like nothing lol Im going to try to write longer chapters and update frequently because I know the pain~ Back to the story, Enjoy! And again sorry for any grammar or repeated words I haven't gotten any sleep lately **P.S** Sorry if the formats hard to read, I put paragraphs and double spaced them but I guess it still didn't do it cause it looks like a jumbled mess, if anyone knows how to fix that help would be appreciated ;-;

_**Chapter 2**_

Sakura stares at her sensei dumbly not really believing what she was hearing "Can you say that again shishou, I dont think I heard you correctly" Tsunade just looks at her in agitation "I know full well you heard me now If you would have opened that scroll before coming in here you would know about the situation better, but since you haven't I'll give you the details. Our good allies of the sand in Sunagakure have gone silent, we haven't received any letters from them and when I sent my personal anbu to check out the situation they reported that nobody was being allowed in or let out and the guards around the gate have gotten heavier. I sent a letter to the Kazekage and it got sent back without being read so now im a bit worried about whats going on. I would send Naruto as he is close with the Kazekage but he's already on a mission" Sakura blinks and then interrupts Tsunade sounding confused "But im not close to him, why send..." before she could finish her sentence Tsunade slams her fist down on the desk again, breaking the desk completely "If you would let me FINISH, then I would tell you why im sending you" she snaps scowling at Sakura "As I was saying, im sending you my dear apprentice is because you saved his older brother Kankuro and you helped rescue him after Deidara and Sasori kidnapped him. Im going to send you tonight with Kiba and Shino who have a mission close to Suna, they will escort you and then carry out their mission. I want you to find out whats going on and then report back to me for further instruction, understood?" Sakura stares for a second and then nods not having any real reason to object "Yes Tsunade Shishou, anything else?" Tsunade just closes her eyes and rubs her temples feeling another headache coming on "No, you're dismissed but on your way out tell Shizune to come in, I need her to find me a new desk" Sakura chuckles and walks out passing along the information to Shizune who looks distressed filling out a bunch of forms Tsunade was too lazy to do herself. As soon as she gets outside she breaths in deeply feeling the crisp cool fall air fill her lungs, sighing happily. She loved the cold weather, it felt nice on her skin and she never got overly heated and sweaty, she then realizes that its around two in the afternoon and she had time to kill before she had to get ready and pack for the mission so she walked down the road towards the bustling marketplace until she found a traveling store for civilians and ninjas, she looked inside and scanned the items to see if she could use any of them. She was happy to see that they carried travel sized shampoos and conditioners of all different scents, and also some different lotions and body washes. She looked and found her favorite scent for her hair products and lotions which was strawberries and then at body washes quickly finding the one that she had at home that smelled like vanilla. After she gathered what she wanted to buy she paid and left going to a shop that sold hoods and other coverings, she there found a body cover with a hood attached which was a crimson red with two thick light beige stripes at the bottom, she instantly fell inlove with it and bought it right away knowing that it was cute and would also keep the suns heat bearable in the hot desert. Quickly leaving the store after buying her cloak, she scanned for one last place that she needed to go to before heading home, food. She finds a food stand that doesn't look too dangerous and orders sweet glazed chicken over rice with fried donuts for dessert, after practically inhaling her food, Sakura then looks at the time and then curses under her breath dashing towards her apartment, she had thirty minutes until the sun went down and then she'd have to meet Kiba and Shino at the gates to leave. She makes it home not even bothering to shut her door and flies into her bedroom grabbing random clothes not really knowing how long she was going to be their and then shoves her toothbrush aswell as any feminine products she might need while staying their aswell as the items that she just bought that afternoon. Seeing that it was already nighttime she sighs and thinks to herself _"__T__here probably going to think im just like Kakashi making them wait__ like this" _After checking to see if she needed anything else seeing as she was already late as it is, she walks out into the cold brisk night and locks her apartment jumping onto the roof towards the gates and her makeshift escorts. Upon arriving to the gates she sees a very upset looking Kiba ranting to Shino, who just looks impassive while Akamaru barks and walks up to Sakura demanding to be pet. Sakura happily complies and scratches his head affectionately drawing the attention of Kiba "You! We've been waiting for you and now we're behind schedule by thirty minutes! You're just like your lazy old sensei Kakashi!" Sakuras vein on her forehead pops out and she cracks her knuckles menacingly looking at Kiba who doesn't see the threat until its too late keeps calling her lazy, Sakura gets fed up and pulls her fist back and punches him square in the face using a little chakra to protect her knuckles from getting hurt on impact sending Kiba reeling back, eyes wide, his nose spurting blood "Whats wrong with you woman, are you on that time of the month or something?!" Shino just laughs softly while Sakuras face turns deep red with anger running at Kiba to punch him again, Kiba learning his lesson the first time jumps back and runs through the gate with a furious looking kunoichi at his heels. Shino just follows behind while Akamaru speeds up to catch up with his partner, after awhile of running full speed Sakura gives up on trying to catch the dog boy and goes a more comfortable pace like Shino and yawns sleepily. It had to be around midnight by now, Konahagakure far behind them now they keep running without any breaks until they get into the land of the wind where they then take a break seeing that there is a sandstorm blocking their path by the time the sandstorm passes everyone is partially rested and hydrated and they keep going the sun already high above the sky beating down at the group relentlessly, Sakura thankfully has her cloak and puts it on with the hood up trying to cover as much pale skin as she could before she got a nasty sunburn, her lips already dry and cracked she licks them trying to put moisture back into them only succeeding in making her lips sting in pain. She debated asking how far they were from Suna but decided against it, she didn't want to deal with Kiba and his temper at the moment and she wasn't sure she could control her own temper if he tried to say something rude to her again. The more steps she took towards Suna the more she thought of the Kazekage Gaara, she knew he didn't have the Shukaku in him anymore and when everyone saved him from the Akatsuki herself included, he didn't seem to have that raging blood lust anymore, he just kinda seemed empty like he didn't know what to feel anymore. She never took interest in him because she was already caught up in her own problem called Sasuke. Thinking back though from what she can remember, Gaara wasn't bad looking with his eye catching blood red hair and his exotic sea foam green eyes, if only he didn't scare the living hell out of everyone around him he would actually have a lot of girls going after him she was sure. Lost in thought thinking about the Kazekage she doesn't realize that her escorts had stopped so she just barrels through Kiba getting a string of colorful vocabulary from him on the ground. She ignores him and his angry comments and looks ahead seeing Suna's walls towering above her casting a foreboding shadow over the entrance, like her shishou said the gates were closed and the guards just looked at them like we were trying to attack them. Kiba coughs next to her and starts to walk off with Shino and Akamaru "Well goodluck getting in pinkie, we have our own mission to complete so we'll see you back in Konoha, Sakura just glares at the back of his head until his head is just a blob in the massive dunes. She sighs and walk a little closer to the gates making the guards tense and follow her movements like a hawk, she holds up her scroll from the Hokage "My name is Haruno Sakura from Konahagakure apprentice of Tsunade the slug princess , im here to speak to the Kazekage" After a few minutes the guards start whispering to each other and then she is suddenly surrounded by sand anbu " You can not speak to the Kazekage but you can speak to Lady Temari, come with us if you wish to speak with her." Sakura just nods wondering why she couldn't talk to the Kazekage and follows behind as they lead her through the giant gates that were now slightly open just enough so they could get in, after walking through the threshold of the gates they suddenly close again sealing her into the city for the time being. If only she knew now how much this simple mission would change and turn her whole world upside down.


End file.
